A man who stands accused of trying to import explosives from a seller on the dark web, is now also facing charges of forgery after an expert matched his handwriting to a signature meant to have been made by his father.

Fresh charges were issued against Jomic Calleja, 34, currently under preventive custody while facing prosecution for trying to import explosives he allegedly bought from a seller on the dark web.

The police had kicked off investigations following a tip-off by foreign security services about the intended consignment of the suspicious materials to a Maltese purchaser and had travelled to Arizona last summer.

In previous sittings, doubt was cast over a signature on a lease agreement for a Qormi showroom, purportedly done by the accused’s father.

When testifying in court, Carmel Grech, the father, had denied that the signature on the document next to his identity card number was actually his.

That denial had prompted the court, presided over by magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech, to appoint a handwriting expert who had eventually matched the signature to the accused.

That match resulted in additional charges for alleged forgery being issued by the prosecution.

The landlord on the lease agreement, Dominic Bonnici, on Thursday testified that Calleja had taken the document for his father to sign.

The same fact was affirmed by another witness, Raymond Muscat who could not confirm whether the accused’s father had actually signed the paper.

The case continues.

Superintendent George Cremona and Inspector Omar Zammit are prosecuting.

Lawyer Benjamin Valenzia is defence counsel.